Alcatel-Lucent Seeks Innovators For Mobile Applications

Have a great idea and the credentials to get it done but need resources or partnership with a large organization? Here’s an offer which may help. As part of a program called TechQuest, Alcatel-Lucent is seeking applications from wireless / mobile technology experts for applications in the areas of public safety, entertainment, eHealthcare and eLearning. This program, TechQuest, is a match maker between companies and innovators. This program is managed by an organization called MTBC in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. It is a good model for telecom companies to attract expert innovators and researchers. Here’s how the program works:

Through TechQuest, small tech companies, university researchers, and industry technologists, the Innovation Providers, have an opportunity to present their technology-based ideas and business plans to a major company, an Innovation Seeker, from the Dallas/Ft.Worth area. Those connections may result in technology licensing, funding, a customer/supplier relationship or a strategic partnership.

Here’s the information about this TechQuest program from Alcatel-Lucent. More information about the process and other TechQuest programs is provided at the MTBC site. Note that the Innovation Providers don’t have to be from Dallas area.

Problem Statement
The bandwidth of mobile uplinks and downlinks as well as data latency parameters promise to be much improved over currently available 3G services with the advent of LTE and 4G wireless broadband technologies. Alcatel-Lucent is seeking applications and services that will benefit from this improved connectivity especially in these key areas:

Public Safety

Media and Entertainment

eHealthcare

eLearning

Background Information:
Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Fourth Generation wireless networks (4G) will provide much higher data rates for mobile devices and applications than existing solutions. The LTE specification is defined and telecommunications equipment vendors are already executing contracts with carriers to deploy LTE gear. The definition of 4G is a bit more nebulous as standards are still being defined; however 4G has objectives of 100Mbits/s bandwidth between any two points in the world (although much higher rates have been lab tested) and support of IPv6.